Balancing Your Diet is Do-able

Balanced healthy diet equals good health, more energy, and happiness. By making the right nutritional choices you will be opening yourself up to a new balanced healthy diet, thereby creating a new fountain of energy in your body that you can use all day, every day. It’s that simple.

So lets talk about the foods that we typically eat to see if it can
provide any benefits for us.

So here it is: Junk food, or call it whatever you want. Food
which is high in energy but low in nutrition. This runs against what
most of us need.

In this day and age, the average American eats a diet that is
extremely high in calories. Many people thoughtlessly make their way
through the day, taking in calories from snacks that are very high in
fat and sugar.

Many of us take in carbohydrates from
products that are mostly white flour - breads and pasta - while ignoring
the many healthy whole grain products that are available. This is just
one way in which the average American takes in far too many processed
foods.

Many of us also don’t really bother to read the
food labels. that are so openly displayed at the supermarket.
How to understand food labels learn here. Therefore, most of the foods that we choose are packed with
preservatives, food coloring, salt, and other additives. This isn’t
the right thing to do when you are balancing your diet.

Big portion sizes of food contribute to overeating and lead to obesity. What is portion distortion and how it affects you? Find out here.

Plenty
of Americans in today’s fast culture do not eat enough fruits and
vegetables. Some don’t eat any at all. Some consider a french fry to be
a vegetable! It most certainly is not. A balanced healthy diet
must include plenty different colors of fruits and vegetables.

What Are Some Of The Health Risks Associated With Poor Dietary Choices?

Obesity is closely associated with poor dietary choices.

Your immune system will simply be more likely to collapse under the stress associated with your lifestyle. You will experience more frequent colds and other infectious conditions.

Poor function in your cardiovascular system is also associated with bad dietary choices. It isn’t pleasant to hear, but you can expect artery blockages, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Type II diabetes, leading to renal failure, blindness, and other ailments, develops late in life for many people who have spent years ignoring good nutrition.

Insufficient calcium and vitamins results in osteoporosis. Our bones can fracture easily, and this in turn can lead to further health problems and decreased mobility.

The painful joint disorders that result from obesity seriously curtail
your ability to move around as much as you want to and enjoy life in
general

When you do not have a balanced healthy diet your skin shows it first, becoming dull and sallow. Your hair is limp with no shine. To put it simply, you feel old and you look old.

Comparing a Balanced Healthy Diet with Poor Nutritional Choices:

Sugar: Besides obesity and diabetes, too much
sugar leads to poor dental health. Fluctuating blood sugar levels result
in uneven bursts of hormones throughout the day, resulting in stress
and a feeling of malaise. The body cannot utilize chromium, which is
necessary to manage sugar-a never-ending nutritional nightmare cycle!

Artificial sugar even worse. Aspartame or other chemicals can be found in sugar-free or diet beverages.
Side effects are dizzenes,
headaches and other problems.

White flour: Foods made using this over-processed foodstuff have a
high Glycemic Index, which means that the body breaks them down too
quickly. If you aren’t exercising regularly the calories from these food
get stored as a fat.

Salt: It is of vital importance that you take salt intake into
account when balancing your diet. Salt causes the body to retain water,
which raises the blood pressure. It also curtails the body’s ability to
use calcium.

Some scientists believe it sets people's nerves on edge.
And too much salt causes your stomach to produce too much pepsin, a
digestive enzyme, which means that proteins and other foods are broken
down too quickly. You lose vitamins, and you get gas!

Preservatives: Some preservatives are known to heighten your risk
of getting cancer. Others sap your body of vitamin B-1. Others can
contribute to allergic responses and affect the functioning of your
immune system. But, many people do not take these ever-present
ingredients into account when they are trying to achieve a balanced
healthy diet.

Food colorings and flavor enhancers: Every day scientists are drawing
more connections between these additives and health problems. Food
colors in particular have been known to cause tumors of the brain,
kidney, thyroid and other tumors in laboratory animals.

WHERE IS THE SALT

Take a quiz

MSG (monosodium glutamate)-used by food industry to enhance the
flavors shown to damage the brain, liver, circulatory system and
more, even in small doses, but taken over time.

Fat intake: Many people already know that they should be reducing
their intake of “bad fats”. However, this is easier said than done. High
intake of fat in the diet contributes to high cholesterol, heart
disease and stroke. It has also been connected to some types of cancer.

So, you may be asking:
What Can I Do To Achieve A Balanced Healthy Diet?

When you are working toward balancing your diet you must
go back to basics! This includes adding more nutritious food to your
diet which include vitamins and minerals, more fiber, enough protein,
good fats, plenty of amino acids, as well as phytonutrients and
antioxidants.

If you are honest with yourself you will admit that
you aren’t aware of what some of these things are. Learn more about these nutrients here. And, as a result of
this ignorance, your health suffers.